Unfamiliar Waters
by Sleeps in Rain
Summary: Arlo is a Vaporeon who is very much attached to his trainer and best friend Thana until the realities of human life pull them apart. ::one-shot, mild angst, revised and reposted::


**Author's Note: This is an idea I've been toying around with since I heard several thought-provoking tracks by the artist Port Blue (Adam Young). This is my very first Pokemon fic and use of the first-person POV. Whee! **

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[XXX] _**Unfamiliar Waters**_ [XXX]

Tonight my trainer released me. Yet now that I think about the word carefully, "trainer" is far too cold a word to describe what existed between us. She was my truest and only friend, and her love was dearer to me than the breath that fills my lungs this very moment. More precious than the water I seek refuge in on this balmy July night. We had grown up together, and as she matured I became less of a pet in her eyes and more a trusted partner. In time, we tested our skills against the other young Pokémon being raised by the neighborhood kids back then and we even managed to defeat almost every gym leader in the region as our strength grew. All but the very last one. We wouldn't get the opportunity to face him because something had changed in Thana.

Her voice no longer carried that warm, gentle lilt to it when she spoke to me. Her normally soft face often hardened as I watched her gaze out from the bay window of the living room into the outside world, lost in thoughts she never shared. She would spend more and more time away from home, far beyond what was normal with the exception of school and the part time job she worked in the city. She was fiercely independent for her age, having turned nineteen years old only last month. She would have to be, though, since her parents were too caught up with their own affairs to be bothered with those of their only child. One night she simply collected a few of her favorite things and left with me while they were out doing whatever it was humans like to do when they aren't earning money. I think it's something they call "the weekend".

It wasn't for some time and many questions to myself later that I finally understood the reason for these strange and dramatic changes in my friend: a male. He must have been several years older than she was; I could sense it. And although I didn't welcome this new intrusion with open arms, he seemed kind enough. He expressed an affinity for water types once, though he had no Pokémon of his own. I guess this meant he would like me too, if I ever decided to spend more than three seconds in his presence. For the time being, I reserved myself to disliking the man more than anything. Sometimes she would come home very late, her face glowing with some emotion I didn't recognize. Other times she would almost drift through the door like a ghost, her eyes obviously wet but no tears ever fell. The entire thing escaped my understanding, and she never bothered to confide in me what was wrong. The fact I was unable to speak her language didn't help things, either. But up until recently, she would always tell me her secret pains. Her dreams and wishes that at times she would explain so passionately that even I found myself yearning to see them come true. It didn't matter if I could answer back or share my own sentiments, because we just knew what the other was feeling.

I could tell something was brewing. The man's visits became more and more infrequent until they stopped altogether. This was happening on and off for a few months, and I could only sit helplessly as she silently crumbled in front of me. And although she rarely ate, somehow she was growing...well, fatter. I wanted to ask if she was sick, if there was anything I could do. I wanted to know why she kept so much from me when I was really the only thing she had. And despite my ignorance, I wanted to punish this man for whatever he had done to her.

_How am I going to do this, Arlo? _

She repeated this over and over between tearful fits.

_Do what?_, I thought. _What are you not telling me? _

My heart ached to see her in so much pain. I watched her life slowly spiral out of control since we left her parent's home. She was unhappy there, and now she was unhappy here too. The sunny person I would wake up to each morning, curled peacefully along the curve of her neck, was gone. I brushed against her calf in a feeble attempt to brighten her mood, but all she could do was rest her head on folded arms, hunched over the edge of the small table of the dinette set her late grandmother had been kind enough to send her. She stared deeply into my pleading eyes. Her cobalt blue ones shone with tears, wisps of beautiful red hair sticking to her cheeks as they mixed with the dewy drops that trickled from her eyes.

_I'm not going to be able to take care of you eventually_, she half whispered between sobs.

I hardly could guess what those words meant. I wanted to tell her not to worry about me, that I was more than capable of looking after myself. Was that what was bothering her? Was I becoming a burden?

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Several more weeks passed, and the tears dried. These were replaced by a numbness that scared me. No trace of emotion was to be found in her. What few possessions she owned had either been left out on the curb in boxes for others to take or sold if they were particularly valuable. The stuffy little apartment was bare now, save for the single box that sat ominously beside the front door, filled with what had to be her clothes. I watched tensely as her hand slipped into the pocket of her loosely fitting jeans and produced a small pink device with a long cord attached to one end. She placed both parts of the opposite end of the cord into her ears and she stood there for several minutes staring at the device, her thumb rolling in slow circles on its surface. Returning the object to where it resided earlier, she turned, opened the door, lifted the box and took a couple steps into the hall.

_Let's go…_, she murmured without looking at me.

Although every step that I forced myself to take was like a stab to my heart, I dared not refuse her, no matter what the outcome. I trailed behind her sheepishly, already too uncomfortable to walk by her side. I wasn't sure she wanted me that close anymore.

When at last we emerged from the dingy apartment complex that had been our home for the past three years, we were met by a large white van parked out front. The words "Rays of Hope Shelter for Young Mothers" were plastered on the side, some of the shiny gold letters peeling in a few corners. A modestly painted rainbow stretched behind the words. Not far from this was the sun, its bright beams reaching out to the viewer as if offering an embrace.

An older woman, perhaps middle aged, stepped out from the driver's seat and unlocked the rear of the vehicle. Thana trudged over and deposited the box she held into the waiting maw of the van.

_I'm sorry to tell you this, but your Pokémon will have to stay behind. Is there someone who can take care of it for you, a friend or neighbor perhaps?_, the woman asked with a calm voice.

At these words I turned desperately to Thana, hoping she would beg or at least insist to let me come with them. Several agonizing seconds passed, and she didn't do this. All she did was sigh softly and shake her head.

At that point I simply couldn't bear it. I was never one prone to emotional displays, no matter how strongly they churned inside. I ran to her, the tears flowing freely down my face and melting away the moment they touched my skin. My body shook from the anger and confusion of that moment, and I wanted nothing more than to tell her off. She needed to understand the hatred I was fighting back right now.

Ignoring my pawing and cries, she stood, refusing to look my way.

_You're free now. I release you…_

And just like that, I froze. I didn't even fully process when she finally turned around and stepped into the van, sliding the door shut behind her. I didn't notice when the noisy white monster was long gone, carrying everything I had ever known along with it. All I could feel was the heat that choked me inside.

And now I'm not entirely sure what to do next. I'm floating somewhere in the darkness of the deepest water I've ever ventured into. The moonlight lies shattered on the ocean's surface, as if a cook of the Gods, high up in his heavenly kitchen, accidentally dropped the whitest, finest plate of china they had. I let the vastness of the water swallow me, knowing that no matter how long I stay here, I will never drown.

Eyes half open, I stare sleepily into the nothingness around me. I could become this water if I chose to, let it become part of me and me a part of it. Melt until we are one. But somehow, I need to know that I am my own entity. That I am an individual. It is not for a few hours more until I decide to try sleeping, avoiding any thought of the heartless girl who had abandoned me without reason.

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Days passed. It is the still, clammy air of early morning on my skin that finally wakes me from my slumber. Feeling frail from having nothing to eat in possibly a week, I open my eyes to take in my new surroundings. I'm lying sprawled out on endless white sands. Everything is serenely quiet, only the predictable motions of the waves teasing the shore to be heard. Fireflies gently fade and glow as they drift among the sparsely growing blades of grass further up shore.

"It's a wonderful day to be alive, isn't it?", a voice as mild and healing as spring rain says.

I turn my head to the source of the sweet sound. A creature of my own species sits there, watching me with both curiosity and a hint of concern. She is quite beautiful, her pale blue tones mimicking the colors of the sky above us, moments before the dawn.

I don't answer her, instead enjoying the uninvited company.

She studies me for a while, and this bothers me.

"So how does freedom feel?", she finally asks.

I cringe, and I feel it in the very pit of my stomach.

"How do-"

"I can just tell. It will be better if you just forget they ever existed."

She gets up now, delicately stepping around me on graceful limbs.

_I…can't do that_, I think to myself.

She takes a few more steps before stopping and looking back at me. Her eyes seem wise beyond their years for reasons I can't identify yet.

"You'll learn to live without being owned by something."

These words will remain trapped in my thoughts for a while. I lie there, realizing nothing will ever be the same anymore. Weighed down by sadness and hunger, I make the effort to get to my feet. I let her lead the way.

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**A/N: Well…that's it I guess. Nothing too serious, just something I felt had to be written for some reason. Would probably be interesting to expand upon but I have other projects I'm more interested in at the moment. Review if you wish.**


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